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8.47am BST
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has criticised the British bank HSBC for supporting China’s move to end Hong Kong’s autonomy, calling it a “corporate kowtow”.
Pompeo said the US was ready to assist Britain with whatever it needed after Beijing reportedly threatened to punish HSBC and break its commitments to build nuclear power plants in the country if the UK did not allow the Chinese technology firm Huawei to build its 5G network.
The CCP’s browbeating of HSBC, in particular, should serve as a cautionary tale. Just last week, the bank’s Asia-Pacific CEO, Peter Wong, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, signed a petition supporting Beijing’s disastrous decision to destroy Hong Kong’s autonomy and to break commitments made in an U.N.-registered treaty.
That show of fealty seems to have earned HSBC little respect in Beijing, which continues to use the bank’s business in China as political leverage against London.
Related: Mike Pompeo criticises HSBC for 'corporate kowtow' to China
8.21am BST
Let’s catch up with some of the Chinese inflation data released overnight which has also weighed on Asian stocks.
Both the consumer price index and producer price index figures pointed to a drop in demand last month.
China was ground-zero for the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, but it also appears to be leading the global recovery. Auto sales data looks to be strengthening, and with some factory levels almost back to pre-pandemic levels there is a real hope that the worst is in the rear-view mirror.
Its role at the heart of the global economy has meant that Chinese inflation has historically acted as an indicator for other countries. It remains to be seen whether that’s still the case in this new environment, where local effects will play a more prominent role in the basket of goods. Continue reading...